Recent studies report that exposure to manganese (Mn) results in neurotoxicity and/or Parkinson’s disease  (PD)  in  welders  [1]  and  nurses  [2].  This  phenomenon  has  aroused  widespread  concern  on  a global scope [3–5]. Manganese-induced clinical neurotoxicity is associated with a motor dysfunction syndrome commonly referred to as manganism [6], which is related with significantly higher reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation [7]. It is therefore great concern about the environmental risk posed by manganese waste mines because most of the tailings have been left without any management and have become  the  main  source  of  heavy  metal  contamination  of  agricultural  soils  and  crops  in  the  mining  areas [8]. Soil heavy metal pollution poses high carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks to the public, especially to children and those living in the vicinity of heavily polluted mining areas [9,10]. Multiple pathways of health risk due to heavy metal exposure in China were reviewed by Zhuang et al. [11], with risks coming from the intake of home-grown rice and vegetables. The use of polluted groundwater and
pond  water  also  poses  potential  risk  to  human  health  [12],  for  instance,  the  high  manganese concentration (1.21 ppm; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reference, <0.05 ppm) in water used by local residents had caused a markedly below-average performance in tests of memory [13] due to human nervous system damage cuased by excessive intake of manganese [14]. Chai et al. [15] found that arsenic and manganese were the largest contributors to human health risks for the local people drinking groundwater  in  the  Xiangjiang  watershed.  The  neurotoxicologic  effects  of  water  manganese  in  children [16] due to their significantly higher Mn concentrations in blood (9.5 μg/L) and hair (12.6 μg/L) was observed [17]. Furthermore, water Mn concentrations of 0.66 μg/L [18] (i.e., higher than the WHO guideline of <0.4 μg/L) may lead to higher infant mortality [19].